Phelpsian era!

17. August 2008 by gchacko.

Michael Phelps did the expected. He was perfect as he won his eighth gold medal in eight attempts. Phelps now has two gold medal records: more gold medals in a single Olympics than any other athlete in any sport, and more gold medals (14) in an Olympics career.

“I have dreamed of a lot of things. And I have written down a lot of goals. And this was the biggest one I really ever wrote down. And everything was accomplished. It has been a fun last four years. And it has been one fun week. That is for sure,” said Phelps after the event.

The eighth Phelpsian achievement of the Michael Phelps Games came during the butterfly leg of the 400 medley relay. Phelps dove into the water with the American team in third place. He was still in third at the flip turn, but once he got those arms churning he made it a faster 100 meters than the world record time. At the wall, Phelps had the lead and freestyler Jason Lezak then sealed the deal in the final 100 meters. The American team broke the world record by a little more than a second, giving Phelps the record gold medal haul.

Even though Phelps made history with his 8^th gold medal, none of the events compared to the magnificent finish Saturday for his seventh medal by the narrowest of margins in the 100-meter butterfly.

Cavic, whose team protested the result and thought he should share the gold, said: “Losing by one-hundredth of a second is the most difficult thing to accept, especially in an Olympic final.”

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